Although clearly committed to combating extremism, the Indian government's counterterrorism efforts remain "hampered by its outdated and overburdened law enforcement and legal systems," says a State Department report.

The annual terrorism report notes that in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, India’s Parliament introduced bills to restructure its counterterrorism laws and proposed a new agency, the National Investigative Agency, to create national-level capability to investigate and potentially prosecute acts of terrorism. Since the Mumbai attacks, India has also greatly increased counterterrorism cooperation with the United States.

The report notes that 2008 was punctuated by several high-profile and immensely destructive acts of terrorism, including the July 7 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, the November 26 attacks in Mumbai and the September 20 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

India was among the world’s most "terrorism-afflicted countries" and Pakistan continued to suffer from rising militancy and extremism in 2008, according to the State Department's annual terrorism report released on Thursday. 

The report highlights a string of terrorist acts in India and adds: "None of the perpetrators of these attacks has yet been prosecuted." The Indian government has blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harakat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami for many of these incidents. "The Government of India believed these attacks were aimed at creating a breakdown in India-Pakistan relations, fostering Hindu-Muslim violence within India, and harming India's commercial centres to impede India's economic resurgence," the report says.

Russell Travers, deputy director for information sharing and knowledge development of the National Counterterrorism Center, noted the "diminished violence" in Kashmir. However, the far fewer extremist attacks actually drove fatalities upward, he said, noting this was because "we saw some spectacular attacks by ... (Lashkar-e-Toiba) while leading up to Mumbai."

Acting coordinator for counterterrorism Ronald Schlicher said the spike in extremist violence in Pakistan was one of the reasons why President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have chosen to devote an enormous amount of attention and resources to the question of Pakistan and Afghanistan. "The situation of Pakistan and Afghanistan and what to do about it has been identified as one of the very highest priorities of the administration," Schlicher said.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has dismissed US President Barack Obama’s statement that present civilian government in Pakistan is fragile and unable to deliver, an assertion that has caused considerable stir within the country.

“This is President Obama’s personal view with which I differ,” Gilani told reporters at the Multan airport on Friday before flying to Karachi, where he presided over a top-level meeting on deteriorating law and order situation in the city.

He said Pakistan currently had a strong parliament, vibrant media, independent judiciary and other functional institutions. The army was working under the civilian leadership. All of this combined to provide strength to the present democratic government that was devoted to deliver on myriads of challenges confronting the country.

Obama’s remarks on Pakistan coming only a week before he is due to meet President Asif Zardari in Washington on April 6, have intrigued political observers here. The US President speaking to press on completion of 100 days of his administration on Thursday said he was more concerned that the civilian government in Pakistan was “very fragile and doesn’t seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services: schools, healthcare, rule of law, a judicial system that works for the majority of the people.”

He said as a consequence, it was very difficult for them (the government) to gain support and loyalty of their people. The Secretary General of the PML-Q, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, described Obama’s assertion as a scathing indictment of Zardari government and its ability to win confidence of the people by delivering on their problems. He said it was unprecedented that a Pakistani leader should be discredited in such harsh language on the eve of his meeting with the US President. 

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday issued a fresh appeal to Tamil civilians still remaining in LTTE-controlled areas in the northern part of the country to come over to cleared areas even as troops continued their operations to oust the Tigers from an area of around five square kilometers to which they are now confined to.

“I appeal to every one of you to come over to the cleared areas,” President Rajapaksa said in the message printed in Tamil and air dropped into the area on Friday. He assured them that the government would continue to give utmost priority to ensure the safety and welfare of the civilians.

Washington, May 1
Oscar winning Indian music director AR Rahman of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame, his Sri Lankan co-performer MIA of the hit "O Saya" song and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani have made it to the Time 100 list of the World's Most Influential People.

The new list to be published in the May 11 annual Time 100 issue is the pick of the magazine's editors and may not be confused with the popular choice in TIME.com's online poll. It has also named General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (57), chief of staff of the Pakistani army, in the list. — IANS